Crimson Dawn (41 page)

Priest frowned and looked completely blind-sided by my statement. "You still don't get it, do you? They didn't send me to stop you from killing Meriwether. I was sent to make sure you didn't get all nostalgic and spare the mother-fucker."

This time, I was blind-sided. "Wha...huh...what are you talking about, Jacob?” If they sent him, then Eric and Thomas were the ones that did the sending, and it didn't make sense for them to want their progeny dead.

Priest pulled a letter from his back pocket and passed it to me. "Read it for yourself. The young master became too much of an embarrassment for the family, but they couldn't bring themselves to put him down, so they used you to do it."

I read the letter written in Thomas' handwriting confirming everything Priest just said. As I read, Priest ran over, bought a Charlotte Observer from a vending machine, and brought it back so I could see the front page. A picture of both elder Meriwethers was staring back at me. The headline read, ’Family Mourns the Pending Loss of Son, but Condones the CMS's Actions for the Good of the Public'.

Priest tucked the paper under his arm and shielded his eyes as he looked up at the first few rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon. "Thomas' wife is pregnant. They're hoping for a boy, but if not, they've got plenty of girls to fill Tristan's shoes as heir apparent.”

“
Well, Daddy
,” I thought, “
looks like they just played the player
.” My father's going to have to wait a little while longer before he's going to be able to unseat Thomas.

"That's harsh, even for the Meriwethers,” I said before I slapped Priest across the arm. "You could have told me, would have saved us a lot of trouble."

He shrugged and shot me a sloppy smile, "I couldn't, I was ordered not to.” He dropped his head and paused before looking up at me. "I know you got canned, and I know I haven't exactly been the nicest of guys to you, but you're a good Sentinel and I'm gonna miss working with you.”

He held out his hand, but I pushed it aside and stepped forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. "You're not a total asshole yourself, Jacob Priest."

Priest leaned into me and took a long breath, "For old times’ sake," he said, right before his face froze. "Well, I'll be damned. I see the rumors are true. You've taken Sexy Red as your mate."

I laughed and nodded, "Yes, that's just one of the things I did when I was in the FaeLands, but it's the best one."

Priest nodded and opened my door for me. "Well you'd best get going before your new wife has a fit because you're not home yet. I need to get on the phone with Master Thomas and try to explain to him why his son is still alive."

We both laughed and shook our heads. "You know," I said. "It sounds even more fucked up when you say it aloud."

Priest laughed, "I know, right.” He stood in the door as long as the sun allowed, and watched me drive away.

I was heading home on Tryon Street frowning at my reflection in the rearview mirror. I was sporting a few bruises that would have healed by now before my change. My phone began belting out the latest SWV song. I ran a finger across the face, to answer the call, "It's me, baby, talk."

Irulan huffed, "We have so got to work on your manners. There's no way I'm taking you anywhere important until you get some proper home-training.” I held the phone away from my mouth and did my best imitation of a snorting pig. She was not amused. "That's down right disgusting, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, well, now all the bad habits start to show themselves. Now's the time to back out before things get too deep." I said playfully.

"I think we passed 'too deep' a while ago, hon," she said. "I was just calling to make sure you were on the way home."

Some things never change. That's a good thing. "Yeah, Ma. I'm three minutes away, see you in....” The line went dead. Looks as if we were going to be in that etiquette class together. I pulled into the back of our building and slid my car next to Irulan’s. As I opened my door to get out, an incredible feeling of déjà vu washed over me. I stopped short of the stairs, and sent my aura ahead of me. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt no one but David and Irulan.

Did I mention that David, the teenage vamp who helped rescue the children from the warehouse in Charleston is living with us now? I skipped up the stairs, shedding my boots along the way, as I went in search of the two. I found David in the spare room rearranging furniture. "Hey kiddo, how're you liking the room?"

David dropped the mattress in his hands, flashed to my side, and planted a quick kiss on my cheek. "Thanks for everything, Val. I'd be dead if it weren't for you.” I smiled and wrestled with the conflicting emotions the kiss invoked. Never once had I thought about what my life would be like with a child. Even though he was a teenager, David's presence in my life was jump-starting the maternal instinct inside of me. Although it felt natural to me, it also scared the shit out of me. David's addition to our household meant that we were responsible for the type of man he would grow into over the long years to come. It was daunting, to say the least.

I enveloped him in a quick hug and returned the kiss. "Let me know if you need anything else. I want you to be happy. Remember if this room isn‘t big enough we‘ve got the entire top floor to work with.” He nodded and went back to his work.

I bypassed Irulan's bedroom and went to my own, knowing she'd be there waiting for me. I pushed the door open a hair and peeked inside. Sure enough, draped across the bed and watching TV was Irulan.

As I stood watching her, I couldn't help but smile. She looked so innocent and unassuming lying there, when she was anything but. I had learned more about her the past few weeks than I had the entire time I'd known her. For one, she was a lot faster and stronger than she let on. Watching her lying there sparked the mischievous streak in me.

In a stroke of what I considered pure genius, I decided to flash into the room, pounce on her, and initiate a wrestling match. Now that I knew she possibly matched me in strength and speed, I had to find out just how close we were. I moved so fast through the room that it was impossible to track me by eyesight alone. My feet barely made a sound as I moved across the carpet. I was right on her, and prepared to jump onto the bed, when she reached out and caught my shirt at the last possible second. She used my momentum to throw me over the bed effortlessly and into the mess that was my closet.

If I weren't so damn surprised, I might have been embarrassed, but the only feeling I could muster was one of disgust at the dirty socks that were under my head. As I lay upside down in a pile of clothing and listened to her throaty laugh herald her victory, I couldn't help but feel a rush of pride.

All that strength wrapped up inside such a beautiful package. She was capable of so much, and she was mine. Irulan hopped off the bed and sauntering over to the closet offered me a hand. "Care to try that again, Val? Next time, maybe a little more effort.” I took her outstretched palm and jerked her down on top of me.

"Not necessarily that, but I can think of a few things I'd like to try again.” I wiggled and squirmed in an effort to set myself right beside Irulan. Her body shook with laughter as I clumsily struggled to maneuver my way on top of her. When I was finally right side up, I thumped her on the nose and planted a quick peck on her. "You don't have to laugh at me."

She returned my kiss amidst a fit of giggles. "And you didn't have to jump me as if your name were Kung-Fu-Joe. See, that's why I never told you how strong or fast I really was. I knew you wouldn't be able to help yourself."

She looked into my eyes with such intensity it made me feel as if I were the center of her universe. I felt like all the shit that we had been through in our lives was in preparation for us. Heartbreaks, victories, and tragedies had shaped and formed us so we'd be ready for each other. She was the other half of me, and I, her.

"What, baby?” She asked as she looked up to see the serious expression I was wearing.

"Nothing, love, just counting my many blessings, that's all."

EPILOGUE

I shot a quick glance at the clock on the wall. It read 6:15 pm. If I had a job to go to I'd get up, but seeing as how I didn't, I yawned and burrowed farther into the covers trying to get closer to Irulan. She moved her arm so I could rest my head on it and I draped my own across her side. Jesus, she smelled so good. I couldn't think of anything better than waking up next to her first thing at night.

In the last month and a half, my life had taken so many twists and turns, pointing me in directions I'd never thought I'd be taking, but this was one I would be eternally grateful for.

Irulan reached over with her free hands and ran a finger across my lips. Her wrist being so close to my mouth caused my teeth to drop. My stomach rumbled at the act, anticipating a feeding. Irulan's face took on a faraway expression all of a sudden and I had to snap my fingers to get her attention.

"Hey, what's wrong," I asked, "Where did you go just now, baby?” I pulled myself up to rest on my elbow, so I could look directly into her eyes. Irulan shook her head and mumbled that it was nothing, but I could see that there was something in her eyes. After a lot of coaxing, consisting of little bites here and kisses here and there, she finally relented in a fit of laughter.

"I realize that asking you to refrain from any type of contact with anyone else is unrealistic, Valeria, but I don't think I can handle you sleeping with anyone else while you're feeding," she admitted in one long breath. My heart melted. I could hear the insecurity in her voice, and it was so out of place. Irulan was one of the strongest women I know. I was determined to live up to the honor of having her love.

See, what many people don't realize is when you truly love someone and give yourself over to that love, you give that person power over you. That's why trust is so important in a relationship. I see that now, more clearly than I ever have in my life. I loved this woman in ways I never thought were possible. I flipped over so that I straddled her hips and leaned down to plant a not so chaste kiss on her lips.

"I don't think you're going to have to worry about me wanting anyone but you for a long time to come, baby. We're mated remember. I don't see anyone but you. Anyone I feed from will be the equivalent of cattle in my eyes.
“Don't even ask,”
I thought as I went in for another kiss and opened the door to my power.
“Cow's blood tastes like shit. I couldn't live like that.”

The heat of the kiss intensified, and the cache of energy expanded until it rolled out of me. It thundered through the air, and filled the entire house with energy. As I rolled off her, both of us were breathless, "See, I'm too dangerous to sleep with anyone else but you, Irulan, as if I'd even want to."

This time I pulled her into my arms trying to make her see that her place in my life was as secure as my hold was. She jabbed me playfully in my side before letting her weight rest on me. "You could have just told me. Showing me probably just cost us every piece of electronics in the house. That's three times, Valeria."

I stifled a laugh and wrestled her on top of me, running my hand up her tank top to take her left breast in my hand, "Let's see if we can knock out the neighbor's TV next."

"OH MY GOD, PLEASE DON'T!” David shouted from his room. I froze. If I looked in a mirror, I'm sure my complexion would have closely resembled the outside of an apple.

"Having a teenage Vampire in the house is going to take some getting used to," Irulan said, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

I brought my fingers to my lips and whispered, "We'll be really quiet, and he won’t hear a thing."

"DON'T COUNT ON IT!"

Irulan rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the wall. "First thing in the morning I'm looking into soundproofing our bedrooms."

"Good idea," I said huskily. "But for now, David will just have to turn his radio up.” Before I knew it, Ludacris was blasting through the house, proving that I hadn‘t quite destroyed everything.

"Eh," said Irulan. "It'll do in a pinch."

"Yeah, it will," I agreed as I wrapped my free hand into her hair urging her face down to mine, so I could capture her lips and... Well, you know the rest.

*****

One would think that I'd have loads of extra time on my hands since I’m not working at the CMS. I have more than enough to keep me occupied - new powers to master, an entire branch of family to get acquainted with, Fomori court etiquette to learn, not to mention a ward to take care of now. The V.C. has permanently placed David under my tutelage against their better judgment.